News / Religion
Impassioned plea to Pope Francis - Gukurahundi Genocide Survivors for Justice
20 Oct 2014 at 07:52hrs | Views
The beatification of Pope Paul vi by Pope Francis today (Sunday 19 Oct) at the St Peter's Square in the Vatican was celebrated was celebrated by all Catholics and most christians the world over. Pope Paul vi presided over the Catholic papacy and is accredited with the immense contribution he made towards uplifting of the values of the church. Amongst the congregats sat two people whose life records are direct opposites of Pope Paul vi : Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace. So many questions come to play in as far as those two and the Catholic values are concerned. One would ask 'have they ever gone to confession' 'do they receive Holy Communion with a clear conscience'. We shall not judge. We would like to make an impassioned plea to Pope Francis though
Since Robert Mugabe happens to be one of Pope Francis's flock, Gukurahundi Genocide Survivors for Justice are appealing to the man at the helm of the Holy See to talk to Mugabe and steer him towards a path that would make him address the Gukurahundi issue. Ours is not a witch hunt or a revenge mission, all we seek is be able to have closure. For closure to be achieved the following should first apply ;
-Acknowledgment by the perpetrator that a crime has been committed
-Finding common ground on which both parties (perpetrator and victim) can work so as to find redress
-Being granted the liberty to bury those who were massacred by the crack force with no interference from the state agents
-Setting up of mechanisms towards a reparative process.
History would tell us that priest have played and continue to play a very important role towards the redress of a community's social ills. Gukurahundi is one cancer which had slowly been eating into the social framework of the Holy community of Matebeleland and Midlands since 1981. The scars that were inflicted by Gukurahundi more than 30years ago are still festering. The emotions of the survivors of Gukurahundi have been teeming since the operation was begun in 1981. This makes Zimbabwe a ticking time bomb because at some point these emotions wil explode. We implore Pope Francis who happens to be a priest by nature to take it upon himself make Mugabe see that his arrogance and aloofness towards a proper Gukurahundi redress could be chaotic for the whole of Zimbabwe. The Gukurahundi survivors are crying out for justice and Will continue to do so till the sane justice they are crying out for is attained
Since Robert Mugabe happens to be one of Pope Francis's flock, Gukurahundi Genocide Survivors for Justice are appealing to the man at the helm of the Holy See to talk to Mugabe and steer him towards a path that would make him address the Gukurahundi issue. Ours is not a witch hunt or a revenge mission, all we seek is be able to have closure. For closure to be achieved the following should first apply ;
-Acknowledgment by the perpetrator that a crime has been committed
-Finding common ground on which both parties (perpetrator and victim) can work so as to find redress
-Setting up of mechanisms towards a reparative process.
History would tell us that priest have played and continue to play a very important role towards the redress of a community's social ills. Gukurahundi is one cancer which had slowly been eating into the social framework of the Holy community of Matebeleland and Midlands since 1981. The scars that were inflicted by Gukurahundi more than 30years ago are still festering. The emotions of the survivors of Gukurahundi have been teeming since the operation was begun in 1981. This makes Zimbabwe a ticking time bomb because at some point these emotions wil explode. We implore Pope Francis who happens to be a priest by nature to take it upon himself make Mugabe see that his arrogance and aloofness towards a proper Gukurahundi redress could be chaotic for the whole of Zimbabwe. The Gukurahundi survivors are crying out for justice and Will continue to do so till the sane justice they are crying out for is attained
Source - Nomagugu Khumalo
